Rene Robert Cavelier, Sieur de la Salle

This coast kept La Salle's name. He is believed to have come ashore near Powderhorn Lake in 1685, after one of his ships was wrecked crossing the bar at Cavallo Pass, and the Texas Centennial Commission set its monument here in 1936 to mark the landing. In the 1840s a coastal community six miles south of Indianola was named La Salle, probably for him. On February 11, 1850, its land agent, Dr. Levi Jones, won a charter for a railway from Matagorda Bay through La Salle to El Paso, but it was never begun.

What the plaque says

Rene Robert Cavelier, Sieur de la Salle Born in Rouen, France, November 22, 1643. Came to Canada in 1666. Founded a first settlement near Montreal. Led several expeditions on the Great Lakes and the Ohio exploration of the Mississippi, 1682. On July 24, 1684 La Salle sailed from France to establish a colony at the mouth of the Mississippi. Landed at Matagorda Bay, February 15, 1685. There established Fort St. Louis. While on his way to Canada he was murdered near the Trinity River, March 19, 1687. La Salle's colony on Matagorda Bay gave the United States its first claim to Texas as a part of the Louisiana Purchase. A gentleman but not a courtier, a proud independent yet timid nature, and explorer of bold vision and untiring energy. "America owes him an enduring memory, for, in this masculine figure, she sees the pioneer who guided her to the possession of her richest heritage."

Where it stands

More markers nearby

• Indianola — steps away
• Indianola Cemetery — 0.6 mi
• Sgt. William Henry Barnes — 0.6 mi
• The Great Camel Experiment — 0.6 mi